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North Carolina Intercity Rail Transit

orulz — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:34:25 +0000

ChiefJoJo, on 15 November 2009 - 05:30 PM, said:

Presumably, the Asheville service would interline with the Piedmont service joining the NCRR corridor to points east, such as Greensboro or Raleigh, rather than terminating in Salisbury. That is assuming there will be enough capacity on that line, especially on the busy segment to Greensboro, which would include dozens of NS freights, and at least 8 Piedmont/SEHSR frequencies/day.

Actually I think passengers to/from Asheville will be expected to transfer at Salisbury. This is what Southern did with the old Asheville Special that was discontinued in 1975. Historically, there was a through train from Asheville to Goldsboro, called the Carolina Special, but it didn't go through Salisbury: it turned onto the K line at Barber Junction, going through Mocksville and Winston-Salem, joining the NCRR at Greensboro (Pomona). That one was cancelled sometime in the 1960s.

The reason you can't do through trains that serve Salisbury is that the Salisbury station is south of the point where the Asheville line joins the NCRR mainline. Interlining from Charlotte to Asheville would be easy, but given the circuitous route and long travel times, it's not too likely.

Technically you could operate an Asheville-Salisbury-Raleigh through train by backing into or out of the station, but Amtrak is understandably reluctant to incorporate backing moves like this into its revenue operations.

Another option would be to skip Salisbury entirely on Asheville trains. Yet another would be to stop in Spencer instead of Salisbury. This is similar to what they did in Smithfield/Selma. Smithfield is the larger of the two, but Amtrak stops in Selma so that trains from Raleigh can stop there. So you would either end up with two stations in the Salisbury area (Spencer for Asheville trains, downtown for everything else) or else just consolidate intercity operations in Spencer. If the latter, the downtown Salisbury station could be mothbolled but reactivated when commuter trains to Charlotte inevitably start running in a few decades. Besides, Spencer wouldn't be such a bad place for a train station, given the location of the NC Transportation Museum.

North Carolina Intercity Rail Transit

ChiefJoJo — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:30:14 +0000

rooster8, on 14 November 2009 - 06:07 PM, said:

The article is discussing the line that will run to Salisbury. I think Winston-Salem was studied as a destination instead of Salisbury, but it was eliminated during one of the first rail expansion studies.

North Carolina Intercity Rail Transit

rooster8 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:07:43 +0000

North Carolina Intercity Rail Transit

Spartan — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:24:23 +0000

Is this the line to connect to Winston or the line to connect to Spartanburg that was being discussed a few years ago?

Bellagio - Fayetteville

unique1rdu — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 04:19:51 +0000

Located some information on how this will look here

North Carolina Intercity Rail Transit

orulz — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:58:43 +0000

The Asheville Citizen-Times has an article today about WNC passenger rail service. The article title, "WNC Train plans take back seat", pretty much tells the story. Construction, estimated at $130 million earlier this decade, is now estimated at closer to $200 million, not including station construction. Some stimulus and state money, to the tune of $2 million, may come in for environmental studies and preliminary planning for the line, but that's it for now.

North Carolina Intercity Rail Transit

orulz — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:26:55 +0000

At the TTA board meeting last week, Patrick Simmons had an answer for that question, and it was on the order of a couple minutes, but I don't remember exactly.

This is an interesting development. These sort of "soft" curve changes (aka without actually doing any sort of construction work) are basically free.

Anywhere up to 5" unbalance (cant deficiency) is really not a passenger comfort issue: that's what Amtrak uses for non-tilting trains on the northeast corridor. It's just a track maintenance issue: the outer track gets worn more quickly than the inner track. I suppose old wooden crossties (sleepers) might not be able to withstand the lateral forces as well, either, so they would have to be replaced more often too.

As a matter of reference, the Acela, which tilts, operates with up to 7" unbalance. Some tilting trains in Sweden (for example) operate with 11-12" of total unbalance.

For anyone interested, Wikipedia has a good, easy to understand discussion of how curve speed limits work on railroads in the US. The equation for calculating speed around a curve is:

Where 3 is the assumed unbalance, E_a is the actual superelevation (cant), and d is the degrees of curvature per 100 feet of track (which seems to be the standard unit for measuring curvature in the US, at least for the rail industry.)

To illustrate: take the curve under NC147 (Durham Freeway) in Durham, at roughly NCRR milepost H51. This is one of the sharpest curves on the NCRR and given the level of infrastructure in place around it, significant realignment is unlikely to happen soon. Its parameters are: 4.0 degrees/ 100'; 4" actual superelevation. Plug that into the equation above with 3" unbalance, and you get a maximum speed of 50mph. With 4" unbalance, 53.5mph. 5", 56.7mph.

Plug in some more aggressive parameters (by US standards - 5" real superelevation, and 7" unbalance) yields 65mph. If this were Sweden, we could go for 7" real superelevation and 12" unbalance, for a speed limit of 82.4mph.

Full realignment of this part of the NCRR is in the ARRA project list, but it's pretty far down:

NCRR H48-54.5
Double track Funston to Durham and improve 5 bridges for additional track and improved track geometry.
Provides for at-speed meets of passenger trains and reduces travel time. Existing speed 55-60 mph. Design speed 79 mph with future upgrade to 90 mph.
Estimated cost: $36.8 million

North Carolina Intercity Rail Transit

uptownliving — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:09:51 +0000

I saw where NCDOT is looking to allow AMTRAK to use 4 inch cant deficiency on curves to reduce travel time betwenn Greensboro and Selma.

Anyone know how much time this will save?

Rockslide closes I-40 in WNC

suburban george3 — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:25:46 +0000

DigitalSky, on 27 October 2009 - 11:31 PM, said:

That's true. Another alternative that's been mentioned is I-40 to 421 West to I-81 in the Tri Cities.

I would NOT suggest that route, mainly because 421 runs thru Boone and turns 2 lanes. Further up in Johnson Co. TN, it turns into a snaking windy road with curves suggested at 15mph. This would make it a much LONGER route timewise. Now if you have a sports car or motorcycle and like the twisties, go for it!

There are some alternatives you can take from Boone to get to I-81, however you still will have to travel winding 2 lane mtn hwys.

The Winston-Salem Journal ran an article about the rockslide history of I-40 and the multiple closures it has experienced. Read it here.

Largest in NC

gso27 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:28:08 +0000

What about the former Sears distrubution center in Greensboro? It has 1,746,936 square feet (big enough to house an indoor amusement park)!

Largest in NC

Spartan — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:47:22 +0000

What about the port thing outside of Wilmington (I think the town is called Southport)? How large and expensive/expansive is that?

Largest in NC

The Escapists — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:19:09 +0000

Not necessarily the "largest" - but I was curious where the highest population density is in NC. Answer: Carrboro.

Rockslide closes I-40 in WNC

DigitalSky — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:31:48 +0000

RaleighRob, on 27 October 2009 - 12:18 PM, said:

^^Not a bad alternative. Just avoid Winston-Salem's weekday rush-hours. 52 is a main route between downtown and the northern suburbs. (And the part downtown is narrow and curvy with cars exiting and entering every few dozen feet.) Otherwise, it's a good option.

That's true. Another alternative that's been mentioned is I-40 to 421 West to I-81 in the Tri Cities.

Gard, on 28 October 2009 - 12:01 AM, said:

The website is saying it will be several MONTHS now...

crazy

Rockslide closes I-40 in WNC

Gard — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:01:10 +0000

cowboy_wilhelm, on 25 October 2009 - 12:15 PM, said:

From the North Carolina Department of Transportation:

DUE TO A ROCK SLIDE, I-40 IS CLOSED IN BOTH DIRECTIONS AT MILE MARKER 3, NEAR THE TENNESSEE STATE LINE, WEST OF ASHEVILLE, IN HAYWOOD COUNTY .

Due to an earlier rock slide, both directions of I-40 are closed at mile marker 3, near the Tennessee State Line, in Haywood Co., West of Asheville. The road is not expected to reopen for several weeks.

Detour: Motorists traveling on I-40 West are advised to use I-240 West, to I-26 West out of Asheville, to Johnson City, TN, then take I-81 South back to I-40.

NCDOT Traveler Information Management System

The website is saying it will be several MONTHS now...

North Carolina Intercity Rail Transit

orulz — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:03:49 +0000

On the Triangle Transit board meeting agenda for tomorrow, I see there is a presentation about the status SEHSR project by Patrick Simmons, head of NCDOT Rail division. The meeting starts at 1:00pm and this presentation is scheduled to begin around 1:40. I'm not sure if anything new will be presented but I'll try to swing by and see what's up.

Rockslide closes I-40 in WNC

RaleighRob — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:18:03 +0000

Rockslide closes I-40 in WNC

cowboy_wilhelm — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:48:16 +0000

DigitalSky, on 26 October 2009 - 12:40 PM, said:

If you're driving from the Triad or I guess points east, they say to take US 52/I-74 to I-77 to I-81 to rejoin 40, it only adds about 10 minutes instead of driving 40 west to I-26 to I-21

Wow, that's only 14 miles more than going straight on I-40 and 38 miles LESS than taking the I-26 detour! It may even be faster than taking I-40 when it isn't covered with rocks due to all the curves and congestion.

DOT should post this alternate route. I haven't heard, but I'm sure traffic on I-240 in Asheville is pretty bad because of this.

Rockslide closes I-40 in WNC

DigitalSky — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:40:42 +0000

If you're driving from the Triad or I guess points east, they say to take US 52/I-74 to I-77 to I-81 to rejoin 40, it only adds about 10 minutes instead of driving 40 west to I-26 to I-21

Rockslide closes I-40 in WNC

orulz — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:19:50 +0000

During the last rock slide 12 years ago, 25/70 was the only reasonable way around it. So widening would have been nice then. But now, with I-26 completed through Sam's Gap, I doubt any additional construction on 25/70 is necessary. The I-26 detour only adds about 50 miles on to the trip, but given that it's a faster highway than I-40, the time penalty not even as bad as the distance would indicate.

About 15 years ago, NCDOT widened 25/70 to 4 lanes as far as Marshall. Given the recent expenditure on I-26, I certainly hope that further widening of 25/70 to Hot Springs or the TN line is not a priority.

Rockslide closes I-40 in WNC

RaleighRob — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:27:40 +0000

Yeah, the original proposed route ("French Broad River gorge") is the one that US 70/25 goes through from Weaverville to Newport, TN.
Political stuff got it thru Haywood County instead. As others say, it's a bad route.

The US 70/25 route could conceivably be widened as a permanent alternative for when 40 is closed like this, but I doubt there's any money to do it.

Rockslide closes I-40 in WNC

cowboy_wilhelm — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:38:30 +0000

A couple of "comments" from the Asheville Citizen-Times article.

"Seriously though, this rockslide is just the latest chapter in the ongoing saga of the Pigeon River Gorge screw-up. This all started back in the 1960s, if not earlier. The highway engineers stated that the best route for the proposed I-40 was through the French Broad River Gorge, not the Pigeon River Gorge. However, big money (especially tourism interests in both North Carolina and Tennesse) bought off the right politicians in both North Carolina and Tennessee and got this borderline disaster built through the Pigeon River Gorge. Special interests just had to get this road closer to Gatlinburg and Cherokee. It cost a million dollars a mile to build it. It is probably going to cost a million miles PER FOOT just to maintain it. What a legacy to leave future generations. Big money plus corrup- politicians equals a great big screw-up with no end in sight."

"The citizens of NC keep paying for Gov. Dan Moore paying off Haywood County by routing I-40 through the Gorge to bring more money to the county. If the original route had been followed up through western Madison Co. we would not have to rebuild the slopes every few years and will continue to do so as they are angled in such a way that it is impossiple to stabilize them. The Madison Co. Route would have also negated the need for I-26 through the County. Politicians play, taxpayers pay, S.O.S."

Rockslide closes I-40 in WNC

orulz — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:27:34 +0000

Can't say I know about who or what caused I-40 to take the Pigeon River Valley route, but the one that everyone agreed was the best from an engineering and cost standpoint was one that followed the French Broad River. That's where the railroad and highways 25 and 70 went.

Rockslide closes I-40 in WNC

tozmervo — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:51:28 +0000

Wow, TDOT is saying November 25 is the expected date the road will be open again. It wouldn't take much delay in that schedule to really ruin a lot of people's Thanksgiving travel plans... including mine. Flying might just be worth it this year if it looks like they won't have all lanes open in time.

I've heard people say that I-40's current route was a result of some pretty intense political games, not the safest/most stable route through the mountains. Does anyone know about that history?

Rockslide closes I-40 in WNC

cowboy_wilhelm — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:15:46 +0000

Largest in NC

DPK — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:18:53 +0000

Wake County Justice Center project approved for downtown Raleigh which will be 11 stories and cost $210 million!

Cherokee, NC Projects (including largest project in NC!)

swdrumcp — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:01:05 +0000

Hey all, sorry I havent replied in a while; here are a few updates.

Clarification on the "largest construction project"
http://www.harrahscherokee.com/images/non_...undbreaking.pdf
"The Master Plan for the property is currently the largest hospitality expansion project underway in the Southeast and one of the largest in the United States, offering the greatest number of hotel accommodations in the state."

New School Opened in August:
Article on the technologies making it meet LEED certifications.
http://www.wncgreenbuilding.com/2009/chero..._takes_the_leed

Language Academy opened two weeks ago:
http://www.smokymountainnews.com/issues/10..._immersion.html

Sequoyah National opened last month as well.

North Carolina Intercity Rail Transit

uptownliving — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:53:52 +0000

The Escapists, on Oct 17 2009, 09:03 AM, said:

Aren't we expecting to hear about which projects have been chosen for the stimulus money any day now?

That was the plan but due to the high amount of applications the FRA has pushed that back to this winter.

Largest in NC

nibletodell — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 02:21:48 +0000

So those are the largest in Raleigh.

Largest projects in charlotte are...
� 1 billion dollar, 1.6 million sq foot Wells Fargo Cultural Campus/Duke Energy Center Tower
� 800 million dollar 1 million square foot 1 Bank of America Center and Ritz Carlton Hotel
� 800 million dollar Langtree at the Lake Project, Lake Norman.
� 200 million dollar Nascar Hall of Fame
� 150 million dollar Vue Charlotte 53 story condominum tower.

honestly the most expensive construction project in charlotte is probably the completion of 485. which has been something absurd like 12 billion dollars total thus far.

Largest in NC

Gard — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:47:05 +0000

Over my way, I would say that the largest construction projects are:

*Green Square in downtown Raleigh. This project is a new state government complex that has a footprint over 325,000 sq ft. and costs over $100 million. It will include a 4-story nature research center, interactive galleries, office space for 600 employees of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, office space for 300 SECU employees and a 700 space parking deck.

*North Hills East in Raleigh. Developer John Kane is developing a 50-acre site adjacent to his previous project, North Hills that will include a 17-story tower (which will have 900,000 sq ft. of space), a two-floor Harris Teeter, 409 apartments and "at least 8 other projects, including another hotel." It also includes a huge retirement home. More information and renderings of the project can be found at http://www.kanerealtycorp.com/north/renderings.aspx

*Collectively, the 540/Capital Blvd. intersection of Raleigh. This area have several projects going on that will completely change the face of this area once they are all complete. This is one of the largest hotspots in Raleigh for development right now. Development is going on continuously at this area for as far as a mile north of the intersection.

*Hillsborough street is Raleigh is being completely redesigned by the city. It is being shrunk from 4 to 2 lanes and getting traffic circles, among a number of other improvements to make it more inviting and pedestrian friendly. More information on this project can be found Here

North Carolina Intercity Rail Transit

hcjohnsoiv — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:53:51 +0000

Hmmm....

Not anytime soon. I would expect the FRA to announce awards in December or January. The FRA just released a draft rail plan (which isn't much of a plan at all, but is essentially an introduction to the goals of HSR). Link Here This plan sucks. It gives me a sinking feeling that the FRA either a: doesn't know what it's doing or b: is going to handicap passenger rail because of freight railroad interests.

Largest in NC

DigitalSky — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:55:01 +0000

Interesting that it's very accessible to find the lists of "tallest buildings" but not so much largest... that is a great question!

Largest in NC

nibletodell — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 15:30:20 +0000

I was sitting here trying to google up the largest construction project in NC right now. And I started wondering what the largest building in NC is, as well as the largest acreage development and things like that. So this is a thread dedicated to the beasts of NC. Anyone have anything to add?

Charlottes largest building is the 2.2 million sq foot Wachovia CIC building in University City. *I think at least*

Keep in mind this thread can be about anything, including parks, beaches, any useless or useful information is great!

Cherokee, NC Projects (including largest project in NC!)

nibletodell — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 15:05:41 +0000

Sorry to chime in late but what exactly makes this the largest project in NC? Certainly not money. Charlotte's Duke Energy Center is 1 billion dollars, the 1 Bank of America Center is 800 million dollars, the big Lake norman project is 800million dollars, while Harrah's is 650 million dollars. I'm not sure about square footage of harrahs but I dunno how it compares to 1.6 million sq foot Duke Energy Center/Wells Fargo Cultural Campus or the 1million sq foot Bank of America Center (including hotel and winter garden). I'm just trying to figure it out, not trying to troll or anything.

North Carolina Intercity Rail Transit

The Escapists — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:03:16 +0000

Aren't we expecting to hear about which projects have been chosen for the stimulus money any day now?

Cherokee, NC Projects (including largest project in NC!)

RaleighRob — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:49:15 +0000

^Not sure about all of them, but I remember seeing the high school about a decade ago and thinking it looked pretty old and worn. I wouldn't be surprised if it's torn down.

Putting North Carolinians Back to Work

beyonce245 — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:54:43 +0000

Don't know how well this topic will go over. But here goes. I figure all of us NC UPers probably know at least a few people who are in search of employment. So why not share any tips or news that we here about job openings?

I'll start.

Mack Trucks and Volvo Trucks North America, both in Greensboro, have at least 9 full time positions open. Jobs include openings in the fields of manufacturing/production administration, finance, IT, associate legal counsel, sales, and marketing. Most, if not all, require a minimum 4 year degree.

Here's the link to search for available openings.

A friend also told me that Gilbarco Veeder-Root also has a few open positions. Here's their link.

BB&T also has at least 20 full time positions available in Winston-Salem, most at their downtown headquarters.

Share with your friends and family and please share any news you have about open jobs.

Let's put NC back to work!

Cherokee, NC Projects (including largest project in NC!)

JeffC — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:50:40 +0000

We vacationed in the area in the summer of 2008, and were very impressed with the school buildings then under construction.

Do they have a plan yet for how the old school buildings will be reutilized?

Bellagio - Fayetteville

DPK — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:14:18 +0000

Story on WRAL now about this:
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/6205442

Engineering firm in Raleigh won the account:
http://www.businessleader.com/raleighdurha...es&id=84445

Rendering:

North Carolina Intercity Rail Transit

hcjohnsoiv — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:41:20 +0000

I think the vagueness of the projects along the S line are due to the fact that NCDOT has yet to acquire the ROW and select a final route for this section.

Interstate quality spur to I-73/74

cowboy_wilhelm — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:16:59 +0000

RiverwoodCLT, on Oct 8 2009, 07:32 PM, said:

US74 is 4 lanes from Charlotte to Wilmington now. US74 in now open as a freeway in Roberson County to I95. From Lumberton, speed limit is 60 to Whiteville and 65 around Whiteville and 60 to just pass Bolton. It is much better that it was a year ago.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the speed limit is 70 around Whiteville. I remember being surprised seeing it, because I didn't know that a non-interstate highway (especially one without full, interstate-standard shoulders) could have a speed limit that high.

Spartan, on Oct 9 2009, 06:03 PM, said:

You mean the Shelby bypass Bypass.

Yeah . . . don't even get me started on that.

Something interesting about the new Shelby bypass is that it will include a SPUI!

A bunch of DOT public hearing maps (including the Shelby bypass) can be seen here.

Non-Smoking Restaurants in North Carolina

Spartan — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:13:46 +0000

The plus side for restaurants is that many more of them will start offering outdoor seating to compensate for this.

Interstate quality spur to I-73/74

Spartan — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:03:56 +0000

cowboy_wilhelm, on Oct 7 2009, 11:19 PM, said:

The final link in making U.S. 74 a complete freeway between Asheville and Charlotte - the Shelby bypass - should begin construction in 2012.

You mean the Shelby bypass Bypass.

Interstate quality spur to I-73/74

RiverwoodCLT — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 23:32:32 +0000

Interstate quality spur to I-73/74

Alias — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:09:36 +0000

The speed limit has been upgraded to 60mph east of Lilesville to Richmond County within the last year or so.

Interstate quality spur to I-73/74

DCMetroRaleigh — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:23:18 +0000

Thanks for the links, guys. I didn't know about the Shelby bypass. The Wadesboro bypass should be extended far to the east to link with the Rockingham Bypass.

Interstate quality spur to I-73/74

cowboy_wilhelm — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:19:26 +0000

The Wadesboro bypass is approved and in the 2009-2015 STIP, but is not currently funded.

NCDOT Project Search - R-4441 (Wadesboro bypass)

NCDOT Division 10 STIP

The final link in making U.S. 74 a complete freeway between Asheville and Charlotte - the Shelby bypass - should begin construction in 2012.

NCDOT Project Search - R-2707 (Shelby bypass)

NCDOT Division 12 STIP

North Carolina Intercity Rail Transit

orulz — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:39:22 +0000

Well, regardless, though New Bern/Morehead City is in the long term plans, it's not on the radar at the moment. Greenville/Washington is in the plan too, but both are currently slated for 2050.

The Track 2 applications are on the NCDOT website. There's not much really new there, but the applications contain some more detailed descriptions of the projects. All the projects on the NCRR are outlined in detail; the S-line to Virginia is still somewhat vague.

North Carolina Intercity Rail Transit

ERJ170 — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:16:39 +0000

orulz, on Oct 7 2009, 11:21 AM, said:

A thought. If NC were to get funding for the improvements within NC, rather than the S-line restoration, then that would wind up double tracking the NCRR. There would be gobs of excess capacity; what better to use it for than the NCRR commuter rail line?

just for my own personal benefit, I would push for double tracking and enclosing the entire NCRR line.. then the trains could truely go 100mph and would go Morehead City to Charlotte.. I could finally train it to New Bern and to my parents house in Pamlico County.. or I could go to Atlantic Beach (which I actually like better than Wilmington).. but, that's purely personal reasons..

North Carolina Intercity Rail Transit

orulz — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:21:48 +0000

North Carolina Intercity Rail Transit

orulz — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:35:50 +0000

ERJ170, on Oct 6 2009, 07:50 PM, said:

So why would NC pay for track realignment in VA? Shouldn't VA cover the cost from the NC line to Richmond?

If the money is coming from the federal stimulus, rather than out of NC's coffers, then NC isn't covering it anyhow: the federal government is. Doesn't matter who submits the application.
If we were to depend on VA to cover all the cost between Petersburg and the state line, then it would never get built. That part of the line is far more important to NC (it's our link to the Northeast Corridor) than it is to Virginia (it would be their link to North Carolina and that's it.)

Quote

Does the estimate include the actual rework of the missing line between Goldsboro and Wilmington (Castle Rock or something like that)

No - it only includes engineering design work for the line, plus construction of all the stations.

Quote

Doesn't it also include the 4th or 5th Piedmont frequency also?

Yes, and all the track work / rolling stock that would be required to make it happen.

North Carolina Intercity Rail Transit

transitman — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:25:44 +0000

ERJ170, on Oct 6 2009, 07:50 PM, said:

So why would NC pay for track realignment in VA? Shouldn't VA cover the cost from the NC line to Richmond?

Does the estimate include the actual rework of the missing line between Goldsboro and Wilmington (Castle Rock or something like that)?

Doesn't it also include the 4th or 5th Piedmont frequency also?

I believe the application from NC/VA is submitted by NC, on behalf of both states, in the form of an interstate compact. Alternatively, it is possible that NC could own the line in VA. A strange situation to be sure, but NCDOT Rail has the superior technical and implementation expertise in the two states, and VA has been comfortable with NCDOT taking the lead.

North Carolina Intercity Rail Transit

ERJ170 — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:50:11 +0000

orulz, on Oct 6 2009, 03:03 PM, said:

Did the original estimate actually only cover Raleigh to Petersburg while the new one covers Raleigh to Richmond?

Interstate quality spur to I-73/74

Alias — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:37:43 +0000

DCMetroRaleigh, on Oct 6 2009, 03:25 PM, said:

Also, have plans for the Wadesboro Bypass been scrapped? Two decades ago, it seemed that the bypass would be built imminently, but after Governor Martin left office, it seemed to disappear as a viable project.

I haven't heard anything about the Wadesboro bypass. I found a few maps from the DOT of current projects and the visionary plan. I'm not sure how old they are but the visionary plan includes the Wadesboro bypass. The maps can explain it better than I can. By the way, the construction I was talking about earlier in Albemarle is visible on the current construction map, the what i called"bypass" actually leads to hwy 138 near the intersection of 24/27, hwy 52 N and 138 S.

Current Projects
Visionary Plan

Interstate quality spur to I-73/74

DCMetroRaleigh — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:25:41 +0000

North Carolina Intercity Rail Transit

orulz — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:03:09 +0000

OK so I dug a little bit deeper and I think I might have found the discrepancy. the NCDOT list says the Raleigh-Richmond segment would be $2.4 billion whereas the N&O article says it would cost $3.7 billion.

Was there some sort of change of scope that would bump the cost up by $1.3 billion since August 24th? More curve realignments? Electrification? Full double tracking rather than single track plus sidings? Did the original estimate actually only cover Raleigh to Petersburg while the new one covers Raleigh to Richmond?

North Carolina Intercity Rail Transit

orulz — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:33:41 +0000

The State of NC's press release says that NCDOT's rail stimulus request was more than $5 billion, and the News & Observer reports $5.3 billion.

However, the NCDOT's project list "only" shows a total of $3.9 billion for ALL projects. This $3.9 billion includes full reconstruction of the S-line from Raleigh to Petersburg, as well as improvements between Richmond and Petersburg, as well as full double-tracking of the entire NCRR clear from Charlotte to Raleigh with curve realignments and a bunch of new grade separations. It also includes new stations in Lexington and Hillsborough, new rolling stock, and *I think* new multimodal stations in Raleigh and Charlotte as well. It even includes station construction and study/engineering design work for the Asheville and Wilmington lines.

In short, the only things I can think of that would be on NCDOT Rail's capital plan and NOT in the project list, is actual construction of the Asheville and Wilmington lines.

So, my question is. If $3.9 billion covers all that, what other projects did NCDOT pull out of its hat to add up to $5.3 billion total?

Does this mean that NC has included some work north of Richmond in its request as well? Or is there something else that's been added?

Interstate quality spur to I-73/74

Alias — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:00:05 +0000

DCMetroRaleigh, on Oct 5 2009, 11:18 PM, said:

Alias, do you know what the construction south of Albemarle is for?

I'm not sure exactly what's going on but you can see where a new road is being constructed that veers off of hwy 52 just south of Albemarle, as if bypassing the town. I can't find a map of the project so I can't say exactly where it will reconnect to hwy 52. Other than that there is no other signs of widening that I know of. I can't imagine the DOT widening 52 south of Norwood anytime soon, I just don't think there's enough traffic. I'll try to take a few pictures next time I'm up that way. There's also some construction on hwy 138 near the intersection of 24/27, I'm not sure if these two projects are related though.

Interstate quality spur to I-73/74

DCMetroRaleigh — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:18:58 +0000

Alias, on Oct 5 2009, 11:28 AM, said:

There's currently construction on US 52 just south of Albemarle. I live in Anson co. and I haven't heard anything about construction starting anytime soon here.

Alias, do you know what the construction south of Albemarle is for?

Interstate quality spur to I-73/74

Spartan — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:55:02 +0000

Ummm... wrong forum, I think. Moving to the NC forum.

Interstate quality spur to I-73/74

Alias — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:28:58 +0000

DCMetroRaleigh, on Oct 5 2009, 11:07 AM, said:

Does anyone know how far along from construction are the plans to widen U.S. 52 to four lanes from Wadesboro to Salisbury?

There's currently construction on US 52 just south of Albemarle. I live in Anson co. and I haven't heard anything about construction starting anytime soon here.